A thermo-insulating moulding sand with a binder made of aluminosilicate microspheres with organic binder was subjected to testing. The aim of the analysis was to determine selected technological properties of the developed compounds. Compressive strength, friability and gas permeability were determined. The binder content was changed within a range of 5÷20 wt% with a 5% step. The applied matrix is characterized by good thermo-insulating properties and a small size of grains, while synthetic organic binder has favourable functional properties, among which the most noteworthy are the extended life and setting time, good rheological properties as well as high resistance to chemical agents. The intended use of the compound is the casting of 3D CRS (Composite Reinforced Skeletons), which are characterized by a well-developed heat transfer surface area, good absorption of impact energy, low mass and a target thickness of connectors within a range of 1.5÷3 mm. The construction of 3D CRS castings is an original concept developed by the employees of the Department of Foundry Engineering at the Silesian University of Technology.

The heavy metal content is one of the criteria for foundry dust commercial use. To assess the possibility of foundry dust use, it is necessary to analyze its composition, including the content of basic heavy metals, and its mechanical properties. The paper presents the results of research on foundry dust from one of the Polish foundries. The aim of the study was to assess the waste management based on its composition and content of heavy metals. Dust samples were taken from one of the Polish foundries, producing iron and steel castings. Samples were taken from several places in the foundry, i.e. from electric furnace dust collectors, shock grating unit, transport of moulding sands unit, pneumatic blast cabinet units and the regeneration of spent foundry sand units. Samples were taken twice from each place at the turn of 2017–2018. The total content of heavy metals such as Cd, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cr, Ni, Mn, and Fe for recovery and additionally Hg as environmental pollution was analyzed. Based on the results of the research, it was found that the dust from foundry furnaces and pneumatic cleaners can be used in metallurgy due to a high percentage of iron. It was found that the dust from casting cleaning, transport and regeneration department can be used in the cement or construction industry. In addition, an assessment of the mercury content showed that the re-use of this dust would not cause an environmental hazard. It was found that the profitability of foundry dust use depends on the stability of its composition and requires testing for each batch of dusts.

In this research, Co-30 mass% Cr alloys were fabricated by a vacuum hot-press sintering process. Different amounts of submicron cobalt and chromium (the mean grain size is 800 and 700 nm, respectively) powders were mixed by ball milling. Furthermore, this study imposed various hot-press sintering temperatures (1100, 1150, 1200 and 1250°C) and pressures (20, 35 and 50 MPa), while maintaining the sintering time at 1 h, respectively. The experimental results show that the optimum parameters of hot-press sintered Co-30 mass% Cr alloys are 1150°C at 35 MPa for 1 h. Meanwhile, the sintered density reaches 7.92 g·cm–3, the closed porosity decreases to 0.46%, and the hardness and transverse rupture strength (TRS) values increase to 77.2 HRA and 997.1 MPa, respectively. While the hot-press sintered Co-30 mass% Cr alloys at 1150°C and 20 MPa for 1 h, the electrical conductivity was slightly enhanced to 1.79 × 104 S·cm–1, and the phase transformation (FCC → HCP) of cobalt displayed a slight effect on sintering behaviors of Co-30 mass% Cr alloys. All these results confirm that the mechanical and electrical properties of Co-30 mass% Cr alloys are effectively improved by using the hot-press sintering technique.

Microstructure and texture of the CuCr0.6 alloy processed by rolling with cyclic movement of rolls (RCMR) at room temperature were investigated. The RCMR processing was applied for the samples in different initial conditions in the solid solution followed by quenching into iced water at 1000oC for 3 h and in aging treatment conditions performed at 500oC for 2 h and at 700oC for 24 h. Application of the solution and aging processes prior to RCMR deformation results in the partial dissolution of Cr particles into the Cu matrix and precipitation of the second phase particles. RCMR processing with value of the total effective strain (εft) of 5 was introduced to the material. It was found that the RCMR method is effective in texture weakening. The obtained results revealed that there is a large similarity in texture orientations after RCMR processing independently of heat treatment conditions. Cyclic character of deformation leads to an incomplete transition of LAB to HAB.

The aim of this paper is to present the procedure test for calibration and validation of the numerical model for X22CrMoV12-1 steel multilayer welding. On the real multilayer weld was described how to arrange the whole experiment in order to obtain not only relevant input data but also verification data. Tests on a specially prepared specimen, welded with 8 beads in 4 layers, allows to determine the actual geometry of the single welded beads, registration of welding thermal cycles and the hardness distribution in successively deposited beads together with determining the heat influence of subsequent layers. The results of the real welding tests were compared with the results obtained from the numerical simulations and extended by the calculated stresses and distortions distributions of the tested specimen. A new, improved hardness prediction algorithm for high-alloy martensitic and bainitic steels was also proposed.